Clothespin



E. A. FRANTZ Dec. 25, 1951 CLOTHESPIN Filed Nov. 27, 1946 INVENTOR, E H. Frank 75d HTTORNEYJ Patented Dec. 25, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CLOTHESPIN Ezra A. Frantz, Weather-ford, Tex.

Application November 27, 1946, Serial No. 712,695

Claims. 1

Thls 'invention relates to a clothespin and the primary object is to provide a clothespin made from a single length of resilient material .which can be produced economically both from the standpointof the quantity of material used in the pin and the operations required in the formation of the pin.

Another object is to provide a clothespin made of a singlelength of material which can be operated, so to speak, eliiciently in attaching it to a clothesline and in removing it from the line. In this connection, it is essential that a clothespin of the present type be readily and freely detachable or separable to release it from the clothesline especially when apparel of delicate material is at tached to the clothesline bythe pin. In other words; if thepin cannot be freely removed or detaohed from the line there is great danger of apparel made of delicate materials being torn or injured.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a one-piece clothespin of resilient material inwhich the clothesline is clamped or gripped between twogripping members and the latter are securely held against relative lateral movement whereby they will always be positioned directly opposite one another or in their proper line grippingpositions.

With these and other objects in view, the invention consists in certain details of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts all as will. hereinafter be more fully described and thenovel features thereof particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

. In the accompanying drawing- Figurexl is afrontelevational view of a clothespin made of a single length of resilient. Wire in accordance with the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the pin shown in Fig. 1, this view being taken from the left-hand side of the pin as it appears in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevational view taken from the opposite side of the pin;

Fig. 4 is a rear elevational view;

Fig. 5 is a partial sectional view on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a front elevational view of a modified form of pin embodying the present invention;

Fig. '7 is a side elevational view thereof; and

Fig. 8 is a detailed sectional view on the line 8-8 of Fig. 6.

In the clothespin shown in Figs. 1 to 5, a single length of wire is bent or spiraled intermediate its ends to form a spring portion Ill. The two ends of the wire are then bent laterally and reversely to form two loops one of which, for convenience, is designated as the front gripping member and the other of which is designated as the rear gripping member. The front gripping member is composed of the two side members I I,

' ly, the rear member of the pin is offset laterally and then reversely, although, in this instance, the lateral offsetting is in a direction opposite to that of the front member and the end of the loop is bent forwardly and downwardly so that the downwardly bent end of theloop overlaps the looped end of the front member. In other words, the wire constituting the rear'memberisoffset laterally to form the looped end l5 and then reversely to form the sides l6, ll, of the rear. member of the pin with portions: of said members I5, l1, extending forwardly, as'at l8, so that the loopedend l5 can be bent down in front of the looped end l3 of the front member.

The action of spring portion ill of the pin tends to move the front and rear members away from each other with the result that the down turned looped end l5 of the rear member is actually urged rearwardly or toward the looped end 13 of the front member and it is these overlapping looped ends of the front and rear members which form the gripping surfaces or members of the pin. By laterally offsetting each end of'the wire so that the front member has the two side members H and i2 and the rear member has similar side members l6 and I1, these two members can readily be grasped between the thumb and fingers of ones hand to press them together so that the down turned end of the pin can be readily slipped on and oil of a clothesline. In other words, the front and back members can be pinched" together, so to speak, to insert a clothesline and a garment between the gripping areas of the pin and, likewise, they can be pinched together when it is desired to remove the article fromthe clothesline and, as mentioned, the laterally spaced side pieces of the two members afford ample means for applying pressure to the front and rear members when it is desired to force them toward each other. The lateral spacing of the sides II and 12 of the front member also serve another function in conjunction with'the down turned looped end [5 of the pin by reason of the fact that this down turned portion is indented, as at l9, sothat a portion of the looped end normally lies between and is laterally'interlocked with the sides I l and I2 of 'the front member. This lateral interlocking prevents relative lateral movement of the front and rear members under normal conditions so that they are always maintained in proper relative positions forsecurely gripping the clothes line.

In the form of the invention illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8, the pin is made of a single length or strip of material cutcfrom sheetmaterial. In this instance the strip is bent intermediate its ends, as

3 at I to form a spring portion with the end l2"- forming the front of the pin and the end l6 forming the rear, the extreme end portion of the upper end'of member l2 which is overlapped 2,579,660 V 7 1' ii I.

4 gripping area to force the same away from the reversely bent end of the rear member, and said reversely bent end of the rear member and the corresponding end of the front member having laterally interlocking portions preventing relative lateralmovement of said members and also tending to retain an object between said grip ping areas.

3. A clothespin composed of a single length of resilient wire bent intermediate its ends to form an' intermediate spring portion and end portions'yieldingly urged away from each other by said down turned portion In this modification relative lateral movement of the overlapping portions of the pin is prevented by laterally interlocking areas of said two portions. That is, one of the members, iii in the present instance, is indented to form a protuberance which is normally laterally interlocked with, protuberances 2| formed on the other member as by indenting the down turned portion [5 In both forms of the invention the major portion of the front member of the pin is exposed to facilitate gripping and forcing the two members toward one another. That is, the front member can be gripped at any point throughout the major portion of its length so that in grasping the pin the front and rear members can be gripped between the fingers at a point rather remote from the spring portion H] or I9 thus affording sufiicorresponding end of the front member being yieldingly urged into engagement with each other and constituting the gripping areas of the pin, the major portion of the length of the outer face of said front member being exposed whereby pressure may be applied thereto adjacent its ripping area to force the same away from the reversely bent end of the rear member, said reversely bent end of the rear member having an indented area normally interlocking between laterally spaced portions of the front member to prevent relative lateral movement of the front and .rear members and to assist in retainin an object between the gripping areas of said mem-' bers.

2. In a clothespin formed of a single length of resilient material bent intermediate its ends and having front and rear members yieldingly urged away from each other by the resiliency of said bent portion, said rear member having a forwardly and reversely bent end with its reversely bent portion overlying the outer face of the corresponding end of said front member, said reversely bent end of the rear member and said corresponding end of the front member being yieldingly urged into engagement with each other and constituting the gripping areas of the pin, the major portion of the length of the outer face of said front member being exposed whereby pressure may be applied thereto adjacent its by said spring portion, one end being bent laterally and reversely and forming a front gripping member comprising laterally spaced sections of the wire, .and the other endof said wire bein bent forwardly to a point in front of said front grip-pin member and provided at said point with, laterally spaced reversely bent portions constituting a gripping member normally urgedrearr.

with said front gripping member and provided at said point with laterally spaced reversely, bent portions constituting a gripping member normally urged rearwardly into gripping engagement with said front gripping member, said laterally spaced, reversely bent portions of said other end of the wire having indentations therein normally positioned be-.

tween the laterally spaced sections of said front gripping member.

5. A clothespin composed of a single lengthof resilient wire bent intermediate its ends to form an intermediate spring portion, each end of the wire beyond said spring portion being bent laterally and reversely into a loop having spaced side members, said loops constitutingfront and rear clamping members, the extremity of the loop constituting the rear clampin member being bent forwardly and'downwardly to overlap the REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in-the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 445,893 Hutchinson et al. Feb. 3; 1891 561,475 Baringer June 2, 1896 1,082,208 Munz Dec. 23,1913 1,322,655 Townley Nov. 25, 1919 1,456,321 McGuire May 22,1923 1,468,543 Pilkington Sept. 18, 1923 2,366,816 Stapleton Jan. 9, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 237,548 Great Britain Nov.1 9, 1925 645,234 Germany May 24, 1937 

